May 20, 2011

Could you easily live without some of the daily, modern-day necessities? Say, go camping with no electricity or running water, or leaving your phone home for the day. Do you get anxious, uncomfortable and irritated or do you take the opportunity to enjoy a break from it all?

As much as I'd like to say I enjoy a break, I must admit I don't enjoy when it happens unexpectedly. I don't mind going to a place where there is no phone reception, but it does take me a while to stop checking my phone. I can live without running water or electricity if I can prepare myself for this beforehand. But when something breaks down and cannot be fixed, say, on the same day, I do get anxious.

I am, of course, talking about my oven. The oven that suddenly, on the night of the Friday 13th, broke down. Thankfully the stove top is still working, but not being able to bake for a whole week has certainly tested my patience. I was able to get the oven going again so that I could roast some veggies, but it wouldn't cope with any baking. The bad news is that this is most likely going to continue for another week! Thus, I will have to come up with alternative recipes. This frying pan bread is one of them and served with roasted capsicum and pumpkin spread it is the best comfort food until I get my oven back.

* I made my own buckwheat flour simply by pulverising raw buckwheat in a food processor. It's ok if the flour is not completely smooth, slight grittiness works well for this recipe.

** You could add sesame seeds or poppy seeds in the dough or on top of the bread when frying. There is no need to use any oil in this recipe.

*** Be patient when frying the breads. The dough is very sticky, but a sticky dough results in softer bread so try to avoid incorporating too much extra flour. Although perhaps not convenient, switching the gas off (or removing the pan off the heat) whilst spreading the next portion on the pan makes it easier to handle.

1. Roast the capsicum in a very hot oven or on a gas flame until blackened. Peel of the skin and remove the seeds. Set aside.

2. Place the peeled and cubed pumpkin in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boil and let simmer until soft. Drain and set aside.

3. Place the capsicum and the pumpkin in a food processor. Add the sunflower seeds, pumpkin seed oil, salt, pepper and lime juice and puree until chunky. Set aside.

4. Mix all the bread ingredients in a large bowl until well combined. To make the first bread, using flour-dusted fingers, gently spread a big dollop (or divide the dough into 6 equal portions) of dough onto a small (19cm) frying pan. Try to be gentle and use the tips of your fingers to push the dough evenly onto the pan. Turn on the heat and dry-fry for 2-3 minutes. Flip the bread over and continue to fry on the other side until golden and firm to touch. Continue with the rest of the dough. Cover the breads with a clean tea towel until ready to serve. ***